Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all Deputies for their contributions. It was a good proposal on the part of Deputy Joan Burton and I am glad to be able to respond to it. We had further consultations with the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, which had some observations on the extending of eligibility to local authority tenants as against private tenants. It said local authority tenants may be more inclined than private tenants to carry out home improvements because they hold a lifetime tenancy. Also, the local authority tenants might be inclined to carry out home improvements as they generally have an option to purchase the home at a reduced price at some point in the future. It is interesting that the life tenancy would be an incentive to tenants to carry out works. It is obvious, but worth remarking on.

Deputy Pearse Doherty made the point about some people not having a taxable income. This tax relief can be carried forward as a credit. If the person has a taxable income at some point in the future, it can be used as a credit against that taxable income. If a person were to go back to work after a period of unemployment, it might be helpful.

Deputy Doherty is correct about the uptake being different from county to county. The large urban areas around Dublin and Cork have the highest levels of uptake, followed by counties such as Wicklow and Kildare. The national average is one per 118 people availing of the home renovation incentive. The Deputy's county of Donegal has the lowest uptake, with one in 573 availing of the scheme. However, if we look at the amount of money spent under the scheme, Donegal has the highest average of €27,000 per valid application, which is close to the maximum allowable qualifying expenditure of €30,000.

A number of issues have been raised which are really matters for local authorities and so on. Members can take those up with the relevant Minister.

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